


Less Than Heroes

by orphan_account



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Not Canon Compliant, its like in x-men when everyone is scared of mutants whether they're good or bad, paris is not as superhero supportive, rating may go up when i add chapters, same premise as the show but not cutesy, side-effects of the miraculous come into play
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 15:40:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15246495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: She likes Ladybug more than she likes Marinette. And she knows it's weird, with the buggy, blackout eyes and the antennae and the screams when she swings through a crowded street, but it's glorious compared to the stuttering and the invisibility and the disappointment. Chat feels the same way — she asks him one day, on the tower, and he tells her he sometimes transforms alone in his room. Never mind the burning, caustic sensation as the leather suit bubbles up his skin. He says it's worth it.





	Less Than Heroes

By lunchtime on the first day of the first year of lycée, Marinette Dupain-Cheng has already learned three things: that glamorous blonde model hair serves no other purpose than to conceal nefarious thoughts, that her rotten luck can and will contaminate the very best of intentions, and that when her teachers speak of her ‘potential’ and ‘promising future,’ they must be confusing her with some other Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Yes, because this Marinette’s future is as evident as the reflection in a mirror — she is destined to be a pushover, her actions insignifigant no matter how hard she tries. Marinette is a bug, and the world is a shoe on its way down.  
In a few short hours, nearly all of what she’s learned will be proven wrong.  
Where our story begins, however, Marinette still stands in a bedroom that is slightly too childish for a fifteen-year-old girl. Her heart seems to be beating with the intent to tear open her chest. This is because a creature has invaded her room, a gross insectlike demon, and it’s speaking French. Also, a monster is killing policemen on the news. Marinette is already beginning to reconsider her future. It now appears much, much worse.  
_______________

“Fuck, fuck, fucking Hell! Shit! Holy Jesus fuck!” Panic pours out of her mouth in irrepressible waves.  
“Calm down,” the creature tells her. It’s no bigger than Marinette’s fist, but the way it’s shuddering in the air, flitting back and forth on paper-thin translucent wings like a toddler after caffeine, has her terrified. “It’s okay! I’m not a threat to you!”  
A wavery, toothless smile cracks across half its face. In places where the creature’s mouth doesn’t quite close, Marinette can see the endless black of unborn galaxies.  
“Do not even speak, you — little demon fucker,” says Marinette, thrusting out a hand in a gesture that is half ‘stop,’ half ‘shush.’ She realizes how much it’s trembling after the deed is done. “Don’t speak. Don’t pretend you’re a person — you’re not a fucking person.”  
“You’re right, I’m not,” it says, still grinning. The way it makes its way around words, clumsy in its high reedy voice, suggests to Marinette that it wasn’t designed for this kind of communication.  
“I’m hallucinating,” she realizes. “Maman! Papa—mmf!”  
In a split second, her mouth is full of something dry and sickingly sweet. She falls back onto her chaise in surprise. As her head bounces against the firm material, whatever is in her mouth lurches, and that’s when she realizes the creature is no longer in sight.  
“Marinette?” calls her mother from the floor below. “Is everything alright?”  
“What will she think of you when you tell her you’re hallucinating?” whispers the creature, now burrowing into her hair. A chill runs down Marinette’s spine.  
“Marinette!” calls her mother again.  
She sits up, feeling lighter than usual. “Nothing, Maman. Just a bug. I handled it.”  
“Thank you,” says the creature, flitting back in front of her face. Its eyes are huge and the oddly iridescent black of solar panels, and they seem capable of taking in everything at once. Two antennae sprout from behind a bulbous head and dangle past the creature’s feet. The feet and arms, for that matter, appear to be more decorative than functional — they fork and branch off like the limbs of a tree, and droop downwards, making the creature appear half-melted. And every centimeter of dry, shifty skin is unnaturally, undeniably red.  
Marinette feels something cool wash over her, like mist in her brain. “What are you?” she breathes, no longer afraid.  
“I am a kwami,” says the creature, “and my name is Tikki. What are you?”  
“I am a — a human,” says Marinette, “and my name is Marinette.”  
“Hi, Marinette!” Tikki makes a scary, raspy sound that could be a giggle.  
“Hi, Tikki. What the fuck is happening?”  
A red blur and a quiet noise like pages flipping is the only signal that Tikki moves, but after a second, Marinette becomes aware of a new heaviness in her earlobes. She brings her right hand up to her ear, leaving her left clutching the side of the chaise, and feels a hard, round earring instead of the dangling ones she thought she was wearing. It’s smooth and chalky to the touch.  
“You’re a very special human, Marinette,” says Tikki. “That’s why you’ve been chosen. You’re the only one who can use the powers properly, the only one able to protect Paris!”  
“What? I’m — who?” is all Marinette can manage.  
“You’re the Miraculous Ladybug!”

**Author's Note:**

> Much thanks to the artist sphenodontia on tumblr for partially inspiring Tikki's appearance, as well as Ladybug's and Chat's and Plagg's, who will all soon join the story. Go check her out! There's dragons and shit too, it's amazing. 
> 
> Following chapters will be longer than this one. This is more of an introduction/brain dump, just to get my creative juices flowing and to post something before I chicken out. Are Ladybug's creation powers fueled by juices? Food for thought. 
> 
> Please leave a review if you liked it or hated it! I don't care which as long as it's attention!


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